DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (/DEVELOPMENTAL/)

Attachment Theory
Introduction to attachment theory in developmental psychology,
including Bowlby and Ainsworth's contributions, evaluation and
criticisms of attachment theory.

Attachment Theory
Attachment theory is a concept in developmental psychology that concerns the
importance of "attachment" in regards to personal development. Speci cally, it
makes the claim that the ability for an individual to form an emotional and physical
"attachment" to another person gives a sense of stability and security necessary to
take risks, branch out, and grow and develop as a personality. Naturally, attachment
theory is a broad idea with many expressions, and the best understanding of it can
be had by looking at several of those expressions in turn.
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John Bowlby
Psychologist John Bowlby was the rst to coin the term. His work in the late 60s
established the precedent that childhood development depended heavily upon a
child's ability to form a strong relationship with "at least one primary caregiver".
Generally speaking, this is one of the parents.

Bowlby's studies in childhood development and "temperament" led him to the

conclusion that a strong attachment to a caregiver provides a necessary sense of
security and foundation. Without such a relationship in place, Bowlby found that a
great deal of developmental energy is expended in the search for stability and
security. In general, those without such attachments are fearful and are less willing
to seek out and learn from new experiences. By contrast, a child with a strong
attachment to a parent knows that they have "back-up" so to speak, and thusly tend
to be more adventurous and eager to have new experiences (which are of course
vital to learning and development).

There is some basis in observational psychology here. The baby who is attached
strongly to a caregiver has several of his or her most immediate needs met and
accounted for. Consequently, they are able to spend a great deal more time
observing and interacting with their environments. Thusly, their development is
facilitated.

IN DEPTH Observational Psychology  (/issues/observational-psychology.php)

For Bowlby, the role of the parent as caregiver grows over time to meet the
particular needs of the attached child. Early on, that role is to be attached to and
provide constant support and security during the formative years. Later, that role is
to be available as the child needs periodic help during their excursions into the
outside world.1

Mary Ainsworth
Mary Ainsworth would develop many of the ideas set forth by Bowlby in her studies.
In particular, she identi ed the existence of what she calls "attachment behavior",
examples of behavior that are demonstrated by insecure children in hopes of
establishing or re-establishing an attachment to a presently absent caregiver. Since
this behavior occurs uniformly in children, it is a compelling argument for the
existence of "innate" or instinctual behavior in the human animal.

The study worked by looking at a broad cross-section of children with varying

degrees of attachment to their parents or caregivers from strong and healthy
attachments to weak and tenuous bonds. The children were then separated from
their caregivers and their responses were observed. The children with strong
attachments were relatively calm, seeming to be secure in the belief that their
caregivers would return shortly, whereas the children with weak attachments would
cry and demonstrate great distress under they were restored to their parents.

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Later in the same study, children were exposed to intentionally stressful situations,
during which nearly all of them began to exhibit particular behaviors that were
e ective in attracting the attention of their caregivers – a keen example of
attachment behavior.2

Hazan and Shaver

Early on, one of the primary limitations of attachment theory was that it had only
really been studied in the context of young children. While studies of children are
often instrumental in the eld of developmental psychology, that eld is ideally
supposed to address the development of the entire human organism, including the
stage of adulthood. In the 1980s, Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver were able to
garner a lot of attention, then, when they turned attachment theory on adult
relationships.3

In their studies, they looked at a number of couples, examining the nature of the
attachments between them, and then observed how those couples reacted to
various stressors and stimuli. In the case of adults, it would seem that a strong
attachment is still quite important. For example, in cases where the adults had a
weak attachment, there were feelings of inadequacy and a lack of intimacy on the
part of both parties. When attachments were too strong, there were issues with co-
dependency. The relationships functioned best when both parties managed to
balance intimacy with independence. Much as is the case with developing children,
the ideal situation seemed to be an attachment that functioned as a secure base
from which to reach out and gain experience in the world.

Criticisms of Attachment Theory

One of the most common criticisms of attachment theory is that non-Western
societies tend to o er up compelling counter-examples. For instance, in Papua New
Guinea or Uganda, the idea of a child being intimately attached to a caregiver is
somewhat alien, and child-rearing duties are more evenly distributed among a
broader group of people. Still, "well-adjusted" members of society are produced,
indicating that, at least in these societies, some other mechanism is acting in the
place of the attachments that are so necessary for Western children.

Evaluation
Attachment theory states that a strong emotional and physical attachment to
at least one primary caregiver is critical to personal development.

John Bowlby rst coined the term as a result of his studies involving the
developmental psychology (/developmental/) of children from various
backgrounds.

Mary Ainsworth conducted this research, discovering the existence of

"attachment behavior" – behavior manifested for the purpose of creating
attachment during times when a child feels confused or stressed (/stress/).

Hazan and Shaver (1987) used the "Love Quiz" to demonstrate the applicability
of attachment theory to adult romantic relationships.

Attachment theory has had a profound in uence upon child care policies, as
well as principles of basic clinical practice for children.

Critics of attachment theory point out the lack of parental attachment in many
non-Western societies.

References
1. Bowlby, John. Attachment and Loss. 1969.
View References...
2. Ainsworth, M. “Infancy in Uganda: Infant Care and the Growth of Love.”
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